Chancellor (education)

===United States===
In most stand-alone universities and colleges in the United States, the chief executive officer is called the president, while the second-most senior officer is called the [[provost (education)|provost]], vice president of academic affairs, dean of faculties, or some other similar title.<ref name="Goldsmith_Page_257">{{cite book |last1=Goldsmith |first1=John A. |last2=Komlos |first2=John |last3=Gold |first3=Penny Schine |title=The Chicago Guide to Your Academic Career: A Portable Mentor for Scholars from Graduate School Through Tenure |date=2001 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |location=Chicago |isbn=9780226301495 |pages=257–258 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0Rk-MaxJALMC&pg=PA257}}</ref>

In the United States, the executive and ceremonial roles are not split, which means that a university president assumes an enormous burden in terms of the sheer breadth of their duties and responsibilities.<ref name="Kirwan">{{cite book |author1-last=Kirwan |author1-first=William | author1-link=William Kirwan |editor1-last=Trachtenberg |editor1-first=Stephen Joel |editor2-last=Kauvar |editor2-first=Gerald B. |editor3-last=Gee |editor3-first=E. Gordon |editor1-link=Stephen Joel Trachtenberg |editor3-link=E. Gordon Gee |title=Leading Colleges and Universities: Lessons from Higher Education Leaders |date=2018 |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |location=Baltimore |pages=3–9 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3JxTDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA3 |access-date=March 19, 2023 |chapter=Becoming a President|isbn=9781421424934 }}</ref> The president is expected to preside over all major ceremonies, including graduations and presentations of awards and honors,<ref name="ClarkKerr_Page_214">{{cite book|last1=Kerr|first1=Clark|title=The Gold and the Blue: A Personal Memoir of the University of California, 1949–1967, Volume 1|date=2001|publisher=University of California Press|location=Berkeley|isbn=9780520223677|page=214|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jMEZ_47vXkAC&pg=PA214|access-date=24 January 2021}}</ref> while also reporting to the board of trustees and personally handling certain high-level executive functions: external relations (especially public relations and fundraising) and long-range planning and strategy (especially the creation and termination of university degrees, programs, and policies).<ref name="Goldsmith_Page_257" /><ref name="Kirwan" /> Most other decisions are delegated to their second in command, especially operational day-to-day decisions.<ref name="Goldsmith_Page_257" /> The provost often has the final say on resource allocation decisions, difficult [[Academic tenure|tenure]] decisions, whether to initiate recruiting of star faculty from other institutions, and whether to initiate defensive measures against such recruiting of the institution's own star faculty.<ref name="Goldsmith_Page_257" />

University presidents typically ascend to the position from academic careers (i.e., after earning tenure and becoming professors and then deans), and it is highly unusual for a university to recruit a president who lacks a strong track record in academic research or university administration.<ref name="Gordon">{{cite news |last1=Gordon |first1=Larry |title=Janet Napolitano, Homeland Security chief, to head UC |url=https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-uc-president-20130712-story.html |access-date=25 January 2021 |work=Los Angeles Times |date=12 July 2013}}</ref><ref name="Loftin">{{cite book |last1=Loftin |first1=R. Bowen |author1-link=R. Bowen Loftin |editor1-last=Trachtenberg |editor1-first=Stephen Joel |editor2-last=Kauvar |editor2-first=Gerald B. |editor3-last=Gee |editor3-first=E. Gordon |editor1-link=Stephen Joel Trachtenberg |editor3-link=E. Gordon Gee |title=Leading Colleges and Universities: Lessons from Higher Education Leaders |date=2018 |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |location=Baltimore |pages=245–252 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3JxTDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA250 |access-date=2 December 2020 |chapter=Leading a Public Flagship within a State System|isbn=9781421424934 }}</ref>

The average salary for college presidents in private, non-profit institutions in 2015 was $569,932, 9 percent higher than in 2014.<ref>{{cite news |last=Smith |first=Kate |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-12-11/college-president-salaries-rise-9-and-1-million-paydays-double? |url-access=subscription |title=College Presidents Making $1 Million Rise With Tuition and Student Debt |work=[[Bloomberg News]] |date=2017-12-11 |access-date=2017-12-13 }}</ref>

There are two well-known problems with the American tradition of concentrating so much power and responsibility in a single person.  First, American universities are notoriously bad at training faculty members and administrators to assume such a heavy burden.<ref name="Kirwan" /><ref name="June">{{cite news |last1=June |first1=Audrey Williams |title=Here Are the Parts of Their Job for Which Presidents Want More Training |url=https://www.chronicle.com/article/here-are-the-parts-of-their-job-for-which-presidents-want-more-training |access-date=January 5, 2024 |work=The Chronicle of Higher Education |date=April 14, 2023 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> Second, university presidents are increasingly vulnerable to [[occupational burnout]] and either return to the faculty or flee academia for nonprofits or consulting.<ref name="Jesse">{{cite news |last1=Jesse |first1=David |title=Portrait of the Presidency |url=https://www.chronicle.com/article/college-presidents-are-less-experienced-than-ever-and-eyeing-the-exit |access-date=January 5, 2024 |work=The Chronicle of Higher Education |date=April 14, 2023 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> The average length of an American university president's term of office dropped from 8.5 years in 2006 to 5.9 years in 2023.<ref name="Jesse" />